Chapter 260: Blackberry's Difficult Task.

"He was just ignored. He went home to drown his woes in Scotch."

-Undercooked, Syndrome

After an agonizingly slow trip back to the top of the Down, Dandelion was deposited in front of the warren's main entrance. His first reaction was a mixture of anger and confusion.

-"Why did you have to hit me?"

Hawkbit rolled his eyes. Dandelion instantly went with the criticism, without even thanking him and Acacia for risking their lives to save him. This left him as frustrated as his friend was.

-"We were trying to be quiet! And there you were, ready to speak, revealing our presence to the enemy. It's almost as if you didn't want to be rescued."

-"I just wanted to say that I was pleased to see you. But I see your point, perhaps it wasn't the best time," Dandelion conceded.

It was then that Hawkbit smacked him in the face once again. Dandelion was once again left furious and confused.

-"What was that for!? I'm back at the warren now, am I still too loud?"

-"That was for leaving in the first place! You didn't even tell anyone you were going, we all panicked! What were you thinking? Were you even thinking?"

-"Well..."

Faced with these questions, Dandelion had no choice but to explain his motivations to everyone present, starting with his unfortunate nightmare with Red. His explanations were very long and complicated; on a few occasions, he simply rambled about his fears of losing his position in the warren, without making much sense, until Hazel brought him back on topic.

As Dandelion finished his speech, Hazel shook his head.

-"Where did you ever get the idea that you could become useless? Every rabbit here is useful."

-"Were you even listening?" Dandelion said. "The not-so-new rabbits..."

-"They have their talents and are important to the warren. So are you."

-"What am I good at?"

-"You're a great storyteller. Whenever you start telling one, everyone gathers around you to listen."

-"You're just too nice to tell me the truth, that my stories are pathetic."

-"Then why do we gather around you whenever you tell one? If we didn't like them, we could just ignore them. But we don't, because we enjoy them."

-"All right, fine, I'm a good storyteller. What else is there?"

-"You were also the winner of our inaugural bob-stones championship last spring."

-"Bob-stones is a fun game, but it's not going to help us win the war."

-"You also helped get rid of the sheep, by bringing the sheepdog to the warren."

-"I really didn't." Dandelion sighed, as he recalled that unfortunate incident. "Once the dog was in front of me, I just froze. It was your brother who saved me, and the warren."

-"Oh you great big fool!" Hawkbit was exasperated. "Can't you just accept the praise without finding some minor detail to nitpick?"

-"I appreciate the attempts to cheer me up," Dandelion said, "but let's face it: my bob-stones and storytelling skills aren't going to defeat Woundwort. I know I was always whining about the owsla, but since I've been discharged, I'm useless."

-"If that's what's bothering you," Hazel suggested, "I'll talk to Bigwig and you will be able to join the owsla again."

-"Do you really think you can manage that?" Dandelion said. "You always said you wouldn't interfere with owsla matters."

Hazel turned to look at Bigwig, who was sitting further away; while the Chief did not speak, it was clear what he had in mind. While the captain wasn't a big fan of the idea, he relented, mostly so that Dandelion would calm down and everyone could then move on.

-"Perhaps I was a bit hasty when I kicked you out of the owsla," he said, hopping closer to, but not looking at, Dandelion.

-"I accept your apology," Dandelion said, smiling at the captain of owsla.

-"I wasn't apologizing! You still acted like a complete idiot that day! But I would be willing to give you another chance, on one condition: you take your duties more seriously."

-"I'll do my best."

-"You know what that involves. No more sarcastic comments at my expense."

-"Hey, I'm never sarcastic, it's my best friend who does that," Dandelion retorted, referring to Hawkbit.

This comment was almost enough for Bigwig to rescind his offer, but after seeing the stern look Hazel was giving him, he reconsidered.

-"No more tricks to get out of training or patrols. And always obey my orders, even if you don't understand them. CLEAR?"

-"Perfectly clear."

-"Good." Bigwig gave a slight smile, pleased to have gotten the message across. "One final question: did you tell anything to Woundwort? We need to know before the battle starts."

Dandelion hesitated: should he tell a grandiose, exaggerated version about how he bravely withstood torture to save his warren? He soon dismissed this foolish idea, in favour of simply telling the boring truth.

-"I didn't say anything. He didn't even try to interrogate me: he already know where the warren was when he found me."

Bigwig nodded.

-"All right then. Now go see Blackberry about your injured paws. As soon as she's done with you, come back here and fight."

Blackberry was in the Honeycomb, surrounded by various herbs. She usually kept these in her burrow, but with the upcoming battle, which would likely result in several injuries, she needed a bigger place to tend to the wounded. While the battle had not yet started, she wanted to be prepared.

Blackberry predicted that her first patient would likely be Dandelion, if the others were able to rescue him. But when she heard another rabbit arrive, she turned around and was surprised to see that it was actually Marigold. Also unexpected was that she did not appear to have any injuries. Blackberry wondered if maybe Marigold's pain was psychological instead; if that was the case, there was little she would be able to do...

-"Do you need help?" she asked

-"You're the one who needs help," Marigold replied, with great resolve.

-"I do?" Blackberry was not sure what Marigold was suggesting, but she was left curious.

-"The Darkhaveners are all so much bigger than us. There will surely be a large number of casualties, more than a single healer can handle."

Blackberry greatly appreciated Marigold's thoughtfulness.

-"You want to help me?"

-"I can't fight; I know my limits. But I am not entirely helpless either. Yes, I want to assist you."

-"I appreciate the intention, but...don't you have your kitten to guard?"

-"Primrose agreed to do it. She's already guarding four; what's one more?"

-"How much do you know about healing?"

-"You taught me a little when Redstone got started."

While Blackberry knew that she could use all the help she could get, she still had her doubts. She was worried that Marigold might go tharn when faced with actual injuries, especially considering the horrors she had witnessed during Redstone's destruction; but at least she had not reacted as strongly as Hickory in the past, perhaps there was hope after all.

It was then that the two does heard someone cry out. The sound did not come from above ground, but from one of the deeper burrows. They ran towards the source of the noise, and soon identified it. Inside this burrow, there was a single rabbit present: Heather. Her eyes were initially closed, but as she heard the approaching visitors, she opened them again.

-"I'm fine," she said.

-"You certainly didn't sound fine," Blackberry said, worried.

-"It's nothing, really."

Despite the brave words, Heather was clearly uncomfortable, and winced.

-"Blackberry, I need help here!" came another voice from out of the burrow; Blackberry hopped towards it to see what was happening, and was soon faced with Hawkbit.

-"Are you in need of help?"

-"It's not me, it's Dandelion. He's in the Honeycomb."

Blackberry sighed. Marigold had been right: this would be too much for one rabbit to handle. The battle hadn't even started yet, and two rabbits were already in need of help. She peaked back into the burrow to give her assistant some instructions.

-"Marigold, you keep an eye on Heather, I will go take care of Dandelion."